The Thief's Gamble

Rating:
Summary: Not a fantasy for beginners...
Review: This is a book that truely deserves some time to sift through all the narrative issues, in order to find the great fantasy novel within. This was a book that wrapped the reader into the story the way a vine wraps around a tree. So slowly that it can't be seen by the hour.The story has a very slow start and may not be perfect for beginner fantasy readers, in that the action really doesn't take place until 3/4 through the book. To the author's credit the entire story is new; no dragons, no princesses in danger or needing their crowns back, and minimal use of magic by the wizards. This novel doesn't have the feeling that the publisher or editor had a hand in the writting, which works in favor for the storyline. The strong and independent female Livak is a woman who knows her limits and has control of her emotions, unlike many female characters.

The story is not for readers who like the 'happily ever after' type stories. This is a fantasy novel to be enjoyed by readers who like their fantasy a bit more on the dramatic side and less rose tinted glasses.

Overall, give the book a chance and some time to read. In that it is not a book for those with patience for the story to come alive.

Rating:
Summary: Okay so I go to the bookstore needing a book fix....
Review: And I pick up a book by an author I haven't heard of....And I LOVE it! So often you can pick up a book and find the promises made by the marketing people on the back cover are full of 'it'. This books stays true to the back cover's promises.

Finding female characters that are worthwhile in Fantasy are hard to find at the best of times. They are usually dumb but pretty - fine. People buy this stuff and lap it up. The Thief's Gamble however has a gutsy female lead character supported by some rather interesting male characters (okay so some more lead female characters would have been a little better).

The story is good and original - no dragons thanks! The plot is fluid and compact - and best of all the auther has a true stamp of personality coming through - this is her work - not a publisher.

I loved every part of this - I want to see more - I hope she continues.

Being someone who has read Janny Wurts and become disappointed with the trivial rubbish that seems to fill some of her later books, and the never ending epics of other like authors, I think this author has the promise of breaking the epic multi-volume plauge ridden book series style of writing - I hope so.

Rating:
Summary: Not groundbreaking, but still a good read.
Review: The only real complaint I have about this book is the beginning. Reading through, it seems like perhaps unedited unrevised versions of the first few chapters somehow ended up in the final printed version. The writing is painfully bad. I ended up sticking it out, and with no real transition, a little ways in the writing spontaniously evens out and becomes clear and respectable. From then on, it's not bad at all.

The plot isn't particularly devious (though a thing or two happens that the reader doesn't necessarily expect), the characters aren't unique (though written with fair depth), and the ambiance and scenery are sufficiently crafted to make a good read.

This isn't a read-in-one-sitting, best-thing-ever-to-grace-your-bookshelf novel, but it isn't nearly as bad as some of the reviews imply. It's easily worth the time and money (if you can make it past the first bit).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent fantasy - I look forward to sequels!
Review: This is a marvelously rousing fantasy. I've been looking for a good novel (or series) to engage me, and this one kept me up late three nights running! Unfortunately I ran out of book, and I'm still waiting for the sequel to come in at the library.

Livak is a warm, humorous character, tough as nails yet tender-hearted. She's a skilled gambler and thief, and she knows how to handle a sword, and locked things have a magnetic attraction to her. When she gets a chance at revenge and some spending money by stealing an antique, she doesn't expect to get caught up in an adventure that is quite unlike all the ballads she's ever heard. Unfortunately, the person to whom she sells the antique is a wizard, and his proposition is just too good to resist. Pretty soon, Livak wishes she had resisted.

The characters are wonderful. Livak, of course, is great. Geris the innocent scholar/mage, Darni the soldier, Shiv the wizard, and Ryshad the lord's liegeman, are only a few of the colorful characters we meet along the way. Of all of them I have to say my favorite (after Livak) is Ryshad.

I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Refreshing world and characters
Review: I have to admit....I was wary at first. The heroine just didn't seem like someone I would like. But I loved this book and the heroine by the time I was finished. I had difficulty putting it down at times as well. The place names were confusing at first and the numerous deities I still am not clear on, but if the author was going for some realism, I think she attained it. These characters were like real people to me and it was nice to see that the magic users weren't infallible. I loved the irony of Livak having the proper cadence for the aetheric magic. I thought the world was similar enough to "classic" fantasy to be comfortable, yet different enough to be interesting. Livak was a breath of fresh air by not only NOT being a virgin shy of sex, but a woman of independence who was leery of letting her hard-won freedom go. I would like to have seen more detail of her past, but I don't think the book suffered because of the lack. Her strength of character, her convictions and beliefs, regardless if I as the reader agreed, were what made her so very real to me. All in all, a great read that I recommend.

Rating:
Summary: WOW.
Review: I mean it, WOW. I love fantasy books, I love the genre so much, but this made me realize why people say that we're stupid and just wasting our time with poorly written swill. It sounded good, it really did, but the writing was bad to the point of, oh, the baby-sitter club books my little sister read when she was 8. Maybe the characters were well developed, maybe the plot was unique and fresh, problem was, I couldn't get there, the first chapter was that BAD. You want decent fantasy, go read Terry Pratchett or Janny Wurts, Raymond Feist, or David Eddings, Robin Hobb is good too. Don't waste your time with this.

Rating:
Summary: horriable
Review: i am not even going to waste my time writing a review for this horrid book.

one word BORING.

and a few others.... i want my 8 hours of my life back.

Rating:
Summary: A War of Magics
Review: The Thief's Gamble is the first novel of the Einarinn series. Hundreds of years ago, the Tormalian Empire ruled much of the land east of the Great Forest. All the lands west of the Great Forest were claimed by the Kingdom of Solura. In the Great Forest itself lived the Forest Folk, whose ministrels often wandered all through the known world. The world was stable, with few wars, until Nemith the Reckless attacked the Mountain Men of Gidestan to obtain the gold and silver believed to be plentiful there. Then the colony in Kel Ar'Ayen, the new land across the sea, was attacked by strangers. Suddenly, the Tormalian Empire collapsed in confusion and chaos.

With the empire went its primary form of magic. Spells that had worked for generations suddenly failed. Priests and wizards were blamed for these failures, persecuted, and killed. Trydek, a tutor of a differing, and minor, form of magic based on the elements and available only to those born with the mage talent, gathered such mageborn as he could and fled to the island of Hadrumal. From these refugees developed the now prevalent, and powerful, elemental magic.

In this novel, Livak is the by-blow of a Forest Folk ministel and her mother, and grandmother, have never let her forget her origins. She ran away from her home in Vanam after one too many rounds of critical words from her mother. Penniless and desperate for food and shelter, she decided to become a prostitute, but her first client was more interested in torture than sex. Fortunately, she won the fight and escaped with only a few cuts and bruises. Immediately thereafter, she mugged her first victim in a career of professional thievery and personal gambling. She has since gained a number of larcenous friends throughout the region.

While waiting for her partner, Halice, Livak runs short of funds, so she burgles a house which she soon recognizes as the location of her close brush with torture and death ten years before. After fantasies of stealing all its valuable contents, she limits herself to an antique tankard. She tries to sell it to Darni, a supposed merchant buying antiquities, but he recognizes the item and accuses her of stealing it. Luckily, he wants to use her to steal other articles, so she joins Darni, Geris, a scholar, and Shivvalan, a wizard, in their pursuit of antiquites. After an unsuccessful attempt to escape is thwarted by Shiv's magic, she pledges not to try again and she is told that the group are buying, or stealing, these items for the Archmage, Planir, to re-discover the lost magics of the defunct Tormalian Empire.

Apparently some objects retain information about their former owners which manifest as dreams to the current possessors. The mages have developed ways to bring out such information and are learning much more about the Empire. However, they are concentrating primarily on ancient items which may have been owned by Imperial wizards. They have discovered enough to classify the lost form of magic as aetheric -- which one scholar explains means "thin air" -- rather than elemental.

As Livak and the Archmage's agents progress in their search, they are attacked by short, blonde men using some kind of unknown magic. Between Darni's vicious swordwork and Shiv's magic, with some help from Geris and Livak, they fight off the attackers, but find little of interest on the bodies. Although Darni supposes that they are just bandits, Livak is unconvinced, for blondes are rare in these regions; only among the Mountain Men of Gidestan would they be likely to see so many blondes in the same group. Also, the attackers used a form of magic that Shiv could not even detect. Moreover, they seem to have arrived on foot and Shiv had just scanned the whole area prior to the attack, finding no one.

In Inglis, Livak meets Ryshad over a casual game of White Raven and guesses that he too is looking for these blondes. When she runs afoul of another group of hostile blondes with strange magic and then Geris is kidnapped by several blondes, Livak brings Ryshad into their band. Since Ryshad, and his partner, Aiten, are agents of Messire D'Olbriot, they have additional resources to contribute to the hunt for Geris and the homebase of the blondes.

This novel is a mystery quest in a fantasy setting. Who are the blonde men? What caused the Empire to fall? How does the "aetheric" magic work? There is a certain amount of violence here and there, but the plot concentrates primarily on these questions. There are also other agents working on the mystery, including Planir and other high-ranking wizards as well as Casuel, a minor mage, and his discovery, Allin, a mageborn whom he is taking to Hadrumal for training ... as soon as they can take care of all these irritating distractions.

This novel is compelling even on re-reading and seems to have an internal logic that is different yet believable. Livak has a character consistent with her history, yet much more empathic than most street people. Ryshad is somewhat of a mystery in this novel, but is further developed in later volumes. Planir is totally inscrutable, except through his deeds; he seems to be working for the long-term best interests of society as a whole, sometimes to the short-term detriment of Hadrumal itself.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys tales of wizards and mages, thieves, warriors, and great adventure with some romance.

Rating:
Summary: A Fantasy Series With Attitude and Wit
Review: In her debut novel, McKenna weaves a rich and complex tapestry of a world, against which she spins a colorful and engaging adventure yarn. The Thief's Gamble introduces a new, pre-industrial-period fantasy series with attitude and wit.

Livak, first-person narrator of the main storyline, has spent ten years building a life as a professional thief, gambler, and con artist. She's smart, gutsy, practical, and has a well-developed sense of honor. Given her past, her outlook predictably edges toward cynical, but she manages to retain a dry sense of humor. She's often underestimated because of her sex, something she uses to good advantage.

To replenish her dwindling funds while awaiting an overdue confederate, Livak gambles on being able to successfully steal, and then peddle to some traveling antiquities dealers, a minor artifact from the Old Tormalin Empire. Unfortunately, the dealers recognize the item, having already tried to purchase it from its rightful owner. Worse, they're really agents for the famed wizards of Hadrumal, whose magical powers don't dismay Livak nearly as much as their purposeful single-mindedness. Next thing Livak knows, she's working for them, contracted to steal other artifacts they aren't able to buy outright.

McKenna wastes no time on extended background discussion; readers are tossed into the story like swimmers diving blindly into mid-river, puzzling out the way of the currents and the lay of the land to either side while simultaneously trying to remain afloat as events move along. After Livak's initial gamble, the stakes keep getting raised. What started as a simple matter of thievery escalates into physical danger when she, her new partners, and others around them are repeatedly harried and attacked by a mysterious bunch of brutal blond strangers. Bodies begin to pile up.

Despite the book's length, McKenna's writing is surprisingly lean. Neither she nor her characters are given to flowery phrasings. The story takes so long to relate because McKenna really has that much story to tell. Several stories, in fact, some of which unfold as Livak meets up with various characters, while others take place in third-person alternate narration centering on Hadrumal's Archmage Planir and on the arrogant and incompetent wizard Casuel Devoir. The artifacts and the blond strangers are the key links, revealing glimpses of a powerful ancient magic that isn't as dead as the wizards first thought, and of a massing threat to the rebuilt Empire.

This is an amazing debut, with tight plotting and very few of the typical basic writing errors. McKenna's chosen a difficult route in deciding to keep the story moving rather than halting the action for lengthy and potentially tedious foundation work, but she handles it well. There may be some very slight stumbles as readers grope to make sense of where the ever-expanding web of events is leading, but after all, Livak and her associates are in pretty much the same fix. The Thief's Gamble sketches out an intriguing conflict to be further explored in future books.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining debut with much to recommend it
Review: If you're reading this review, the chances are that you've seen a fair few swords-and-sorcery novels (or multi-volume sagas, as they more frequently turn out to be) in your time. If you're the type who'll read anything from Terry Brooks upwards, then here's what you need to know: secluded beardy wizards, convoluted names, small group on a quest, barbarians from across the sea, easy good/evil division. Okay? Good.

However, there's also much here for the more discerning fantasy fan. For starters, this is a fantasy world with rather more depth than the usual cardboard cut-out pseudo-medieval realm; the story takes us through environments and situations which carry within them a sense of historical and technological change. The action of the tale is triggered by an antiquarian initiative, led by wizards and scholars, to investigate the true reasons behind the fall of an empire. We hear of advances in smelting techniques, of new fashions and the effects of trade; this rarely feels like unnecessary detail, but is generally brought into the narrative when it is relevant to the plot. The magic systems are kept simple but remain intriguing.

The characters vary; some, such as the titular thief Livak (first-person narrator for around half of the chapters), work very well. Livak is a million miles from that patronising epithet "feisty" - she's quick-witted and capable without constantly feeling the need to prove it. She's also believeably experienced without being utterly world-weary. Casuel, in the subplot strand, borders on caricature but as a general rule works as a good contrast. The rest of the cast tend to be painted in broad strokes, and the interactions between them tend a little towards the flat, particularly once Darni is separated off from Livak's group.

The problems, such as they are, come with the story itself. The author herself has admitted that the basic plot is pretty formulaic, but that she had tried to use the cliches to produce something a little different. She hasn't entirely succeeded - this remains, after all, fundamentally a 'quest', for all the convincing background colour. Politicking rears its head only rarely, and for all the great build-up of place and history, the (rather rushed) climax plays out as a fairly standard magical confrontation.

Nevertheless, despite its bumps and flaws, this is a well-drawn picture of a world that I look forward to reading more of. McKenna undoubtedly has talent; if she'd only let her excellent world-building skills drive the story rather than the by-the-numbers fantasy plotting, she could be a considerable force in the genre.